The Cat's In the Cradle
by Asher J
Summary: Oneshot. Max is reminiscing about her less-than-perfect upbringing, meeting the party members for the first time, and how they stayed friends all these years. Obviously a Lumax story.


_**CAT'S IN THE CRADLE**_

A/N: I do not own _Stranger Things _or the characters in this story. They are solely the property of the Duffer Brothers, Netflix, and their associates.

"If we are facing in the right direction,

all we have to do is keep on walking."  
—ZEN PROVERB

"Do not pray for an easy life.  
Pray for the strength to endure a difficult one."

—BRUCE LEE

1940-1973

_**"A**__n' the cat's in the cradle an' the silver spoon; Little Boy Blue an' the man in the moon. 'When ya comin' home, Dad?' 'I don't know when, but we'll get together then; ya know we'll have a good time then...'"_

I never liked that song. Part of the reason is because I was never a fan of '70s soft rock. It's bland, wimpy, and a total drag—basically, a surefire cure for insomnia. Growing up, I much preferred listening to Madonna, the Go-Go's, Duran Duran, stuff like that. The other reason is because of what it's about: a father who rarely, if ever, had time for his son, and the son growing up to be a rat bastard just like him.

Now why does that sound familiar?

Oh, yeah—because that was basically my life in a nutshell.

For as long as I can remember, I never understood what the hell Mom saw in Neil, my stepfather. You know how when you meet somebody for the first time, you get these bad vibes? Well, that's exactly how it was the first time I met him. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was just something about him that wasn't right. On the upside, he did have a son, Billy, and being an only child, like me, I naturally assumed that he and I would get used to each other, and maybe even be friends.

And boy, was I wrong.

Even before we moved to Hawkins, Billy never once passed up an opportunity to treat me like dirt. But once we got here, all bets were off. One wrong word or look would send him flying into a rage, and he'd start breaking dishes, lamps, furniture, anything that was in reach. I wish I had a dollar for every time I thought about sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night and hitch-hiking back to California. Sure, it was dangerous, and I probably would've ended up in a drainage ditch with my throat slit, but even that was a million times better than spending one more minute in that fucking hellhole.

On the other hand, though, if I had gone through with it, I never would've met Lucas and his friends, even though we didn't exactly get off on the right foot. At first, I thought they were a bunch of weirdos, especially Lucas. Instead of actually talking to me and getting to know me like a regular person, he was very secretive and paranoid. I could tell he'd gone through some pretty fucked-up shit (haven't we all?), but I never imagined that it was that serious. When he told me the whole story about how Will had gone missing and what they and his poor mom and brother had gone through to find him, I thought he was pulling my chain. It wasn't until we were sitting on top of that bus in the junkyard that I was convinced that he was telling the truth. It also made me realize that calling him a stalker was a pretty rotten thing to do.

It was also when he and I actually started bonding. Yeah, I can't believe it, either. I mean, here I was, just a lonely girl from California who never wanted to move to this sucky town in the first place, didn't know who to trust, and had a home that made the battlefields in Vietnam look like _Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. _ And this boy, who had issues of his own, was sitting there, listening to me, and not being the least bit judgmental toward me. Now that I think about it, just the mere fact that he was willing to consider me a friend was what finally gave me the guts to stand up to Billy.

Oh, and if I can be perfectly honest here, if I could do it over, I wouldn't have hesitated to get him right in the family jewels with that baseball bat.

As we spent more time together and got to know each other better, our friendship deepened, and we eventually started dating. Don't get me wrong—I really grew to love him, and I always will, but if there was anyone in our circle of friends that I could always count on to have my back, it was El. From what the guys told me about her, if you looked up badass in the dictionary, there'd be a picture of her. She and I were so much alike: we both had shitty childhoods, we'd both been kicked around too much, and we were basically outcasts, as were all of us. She was and is like a sister to me, and after Billy had sacrificed himself to save El from the Mind-flayer, she was the one who was there for me. At the funeral, she never left my side, nor Lucas. I cried my eyes out the entire time, despite the fact that Billy was an asshole. It wasn't so much that he was brutally killed right in front of me—it was knowing that in those last few moments, El had gotten through to him when nobody else could. She'd told him about his life in California, how happy he was, his real mother, and what a wonderful woman she was. When I heard about it, I felt terrible for him. I mean, there was a time in his life where he was actually a nice, decent person, and his abusive piece of shit father had beaten that out of him. The more I knew about his past and all the trauma he'd been through, the more I despised Neil. And seeing how cold and indifferent he was throughout the service really made my blood boil.

That's why it didn't surprise me to find him in bed with some bleach-blond slut. And they were really going at it, too. It's a wonder they didn't shake the whole bed to pieces. Needless to say, Mom found out about it, and yes, she kicked his ass to the curb.

After their divorce was finalized, Neil slunk back to California like the slimy snake he is. I often pray that his ex-wife didn't take him back. If you ask me, any man who abuses his wife and kids deserves whatever he has coming to him.

With Neil gone, life really changed for the better. Lucas and I still loved each other, despite our occasional rough patches, and I still had Mike and Dustin to talk to. I also kept in touch with Will, his awesome mom Joyce, and El, and I can't put into words how lucky I felt to have friends as wonderful as them.

Nowadays, Lucas and I are married and living outside San Diego. He works for an ad agency, and I'm a licensed social worker. It's not the easiest job in the world, and it breaks your heart every day, but if I can make a difference in just one family's life, and save just one kid from their own personal hell, it's totally worth it.

As I sit here by the pool and watch Lucas give our 7-month-old daughter one of her first swimming lessons, I feel so thankful for where I am now. In some weird, twisted way, moving to Hawkins and getting caught up in all that craziness was the best thing that ever happened to me. Before I met Lucas, I was so sure that happiness was something I was never going to find. But I did find it, and I love it. Best of all, I can take comfort in knowing that I will never be that scared, angry young girl again. Never, ever again.

**THE END**


End file.
